Small villages, Central LAOS

I've spent the last couple of days in small villages north of the town of Vang Vieng, which is about 3 hours by bus north of the capital city, Vientiane. It is raining season and it sure rains a lot - a hell of a lot. When it rains here....it RAINS buckets non-stop for hours. I have spent time with the workers in the rice paddies and they don't stop planting their seedlings even in the hardest downpours. Here, the entire family is responsible for working the lands - from the very young to the very old - men and women. Women are wearing their long dresses as they stand knee-deep in the rice paddies. Most workers are wearing the traditional cone shaped grass-woven wide-rimmed hats (similar to Vietnam). People are extremely friendly and even here in the small villages, at least some people speak a basic level of English, which makes it possible to always have some conversations with the villagers.

A few nights I stayed in a hut right on the banks of a small river/big stream which got flooded by the rains (my hut are on stilts so I was reasonably safe from the waters). What amazed me was the kids (boys around 10 years old) swinging from the tree branches next to my hut and then jump down into the rushing waters of this very strong flowing river - without any fear.

I truly enjoy rural Laos. The dense jungle is filled with critters (Orb Weaving Spider to the right) and creatures, with some awesome limestone rocks, and several caves which I explored. I think I may have made a new discovery -- the most amazing little cave dwelling creature which carries a big drop of water on his back (picture on bottom right). Got a really nice closeup picture - which just may make me (and the creature) famous!

I'm working my way up to northern Laos - to the Luang Prabang area.